This invention relates in general to apparatus for removing a desired portion of the beak of birds, and in particular, from poultry.
It is a curious habit of birds such as chickens and turkeys and the like to peck at other birds or to peck at spots such as dirt or blood and the like appearing on individual birds. Accordingly, such pecking can result in damage or destruction of large numbers of birds if the beaks of the birds are left intact.
Many devices are known in the prior art for removing a portion or all of the beak of birds such as chickens and turkeys and/or game birds and the like for preventing pecking and egg eating and other undesirable characteristic actions of the birds. Such devices typically remove a portion of the upper mandible of the beak, leaving substantially intact the lower mandible, such as to not hinder the feeding capability of the bird, but yet at the same time to shorten and dull the beak of the bird to prevent it from harming other birds. Moreover, it is desirable with such devices that in conjunction with removal of a portion of the beak the tissue is charred to prevent hemorrhage of the shortened beak. Some such prior art devices are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,501,283 and 3,390,679, for example, in which an apparatus for burning the upper mandible of a beak and an apparatus for cutting the beak are shown, respectively.
However, all such prior art devices require either operator skill to properly manipulate the birds or are relatively slow in operation, thus severely reducing the number of birds which can be debeaked during a given time period. Accordingly, with prior art devices, a very large number of birds are improperly debeaked, with the result that they are either prevented from feeding properly or they remain enabled to peck other birds and the like. Moreover, improper debeaking results in the added biological stress of a large number of birds, with a resultant increase in the cost to the consumer of the remaining birds.